Discussions

We can report impaired drivers, but what about those who are intentionally dangerous without being impaired?  
 
I once called in an incident many years ago (when Brandon drivers were a lot tamer) to report an incident and was told they could no longer call dangerous drivers with a warning.  
 
I completely understand that would be a huge workload for police and likely wouldn't deter the driver. But it makes me wonder what can be done?  
 
We arrest those who drive out of control because of alcohol, but those who intentionally with full use of their minds decide that my life or yours is less valuable than waiting 5 seconds can't even be reported. It just seems wrong I guess.  
 
If someone shot a gun at me but I ducked before they shot and therefore wasn't hit, they would still be arrested.  
 
But when someone purposely hurtles their huge vehicle right at me and counts on me serving and slamming the breaks to avoid collision, I can do nothing to report the attempted 'assault'?  
 
I fear for this person, I truly hope she does not end as a newspaper headline in a terrible crash and it would be so much better to receive a wake up call that should easily kill someone, before it happens.

I have reported dangerous drivers in the past and, although I don't know specifically what was done by the police, I believe my reports were taken seriously.  
 
Second - When you say someone purposefully hurtled their huge vehicle right at you - that sounds like the definition of attempted murder

Hmm so you think I should call it in? How recently did you make a report that was accepted?  
 
I was in my vehicle and she was driving in a "gotta beat the train" mentality. I saw her absolutely flying from Tims up to 18th street which I was on, with no intention of stopping or yielding to traffic.

Im guessing it would all depend on the circumstances and how dangerous their driving. But you can phone 911 and give the licence plate number, I did it on highway 10 a while back and a RCMP officer caught up to the vehicle, followed it for a while, then pulled it over. Mind you I did tell the dispatcher I though it was a drunk driver, because the vehicle was swerving all over the road. Maybe that made a difference and I phoned as I was witnessing the dangerous driving. I've also heard other stories of people doing the same.  
 
But if it happened a while ago I would call the police services non-emergency number.  
 
 
 
 
 
Edited by The_Young_Man, 2016-03-17 23:57:34

I certainly believe that if you see something illegal, you should report it.  
 
From your description of the event, I have no clue what the circumstances were - or even where for that matter.  
 
The times I have reported dangerous driving have been on the highway when I saw someone going a ridiculous speed (approx 160kph) and when I saw someone driving very erratically and also speeding (approx 130kph. I don't know what happened with the speeding incident but 7 minutes after I made the erratic driving call, the vehicle was stopped by 2 police vehicles and 5 people were all outside of the vehicle.  
 
No matter what, if I see someone doing something dangerously illegal, I call it in. I can't control what gets done but I can sleep at night knowing I did what I could do.

Not worth your breathe! Reported on a dumbass driver the other night got told he said she said (plus five witnesses). Not worth the time I guess. Next time I'll deal with them myself I guess.  

Thank you all for your advice. I do believe its worth doing something about, velda. Just the fact that they were reported and someone called them on it will make them aware they can't get away with recklessness forever.  
 
Its always worth the breathe to try to prevent an accident in future.

You should report them and be willing to provide a statement to police. The police can then issue a ticket based on your statement. Be prepared to go to court as a witness if the driver decides to fight the ticket.

if you have the license plate number you can report them and if they are available they will go look for them and see themselves, if they cant find them they will send the registered owner a letter ( i know i got one, wasnt me tho because i wasnt in town that day :/)  
 
i do wonder tho if you are reporting something that is minor too often then possibly they would tell you not to call

Purchase a dash cam.  
Then you have video proof and vehicle description and plate number.  
Take it to the police and I would think that their obligation to the public is to investigate

Report it all you want there not going to do anything, they can't prove who was driving from getting a license plate number, that would be so easy to get off even if they tried ticketing you, anyone could have been driving, plus they got to much other stuff to worry about than these minor things,

The police may not be able to identify who is driving the vehicle, but they will talk to the registered owner of the vehicle. Also police hand out tickets all the time without knowing who is driving, for example in Winnipeg with red light cameras and photo radar. In those cases the only get the license plate number and a photo of the vehicle, but a ticket is issued. Obviously this is different and likely a ticket will not be issued, probably just a verbal warning, with is better than nothing and could be a wack up call.  
 
Edited by The_Young_Man, 2016-03-19 00:15:16